George Lucas C&Ds 'Lightsaber Laser' 481
dward90 writes "George Lucas thinks that bulky, handheld lasers shouldn't be produced because they are his intellectual property. From CNN: 'George Lucas wants to force a laser company to stop making a new, high-powered product he says looks too much like the famous lightsaber from his classic sci-fi series.
Lucasfilm Ltd. has sent a cease-and-desist letter to Hong Kong-based Wicked Lasers, threatening legal action if it doesn't change its Pro Arctic Laser series or stop selling it altogether.'"
And... (Score:5, Funny)
Dildos look too much like MY penis. Can I sue their makers?
Not at all... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Not at all... (Score:5, Funny)
These are not the injection moldings you are looking for....
Re:And... (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:And... (Score:5, Funny)
'vagina'! It's a slippery slope that leads to people eating babies.
I think you're doing it wrong.
Re:And... (Score:5, Interesting)
This is funny and to the point - why is this a troll?
We train young men to drop fire on people from the sky but forbid them to write the word "fuck" on their airplanes because it is obscene...
I had already forgotten about Wicked Lasers (Score:5, Informative)
But now I remember and want to go to the Wicked Laser web site and buy stuff.
Thanks for reminding me, George! Say hi to Babs Streisand when you see her!
Re:I had already forgotten about Wicked Lasers (Score:5, Funny)
Re:I had already forgotten about Wicked Lasers (Score:5, Funny)
But now I remember and want to go to the Wicked Laser web site and buy stuff.
Don't forget to order the optional "Shark Mount"
Re:I had already forgotten about Wicked Lasers (Score:5, Funny)
heh (Score:5, Funny)
Anyone else notice how Lucas tends to just shit all over anything remotely reminiscent of Star Wars? My fiancee is convinced it's because Star Wars prevented him from having any other successful films for the rest of this life, and he resents the series because of that.
My response is that I don't know how you can resent something that makes you a gajilionaire, but whatever.
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Wait... do you think that it's possible that he borked the prequels on purpose?
He would have been a gajilionaire off of Indiana Jones, anyway.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
It's kinda conspiracy-theorish, but I actually wouldn't put that out of the realm of possibility. What better middle finger could Lucas come up with than delivering crap that people would still pay en masse to see?
Re:heh (Score:4, Interesting)
I think he was actually going with the McDonald's route, and trying to market Star Wars to Kids. I mean a 9 year old protagonist hero. Then a cheesy no-lust love story?
Notice there were a few more video games targetted towards kids and more products aimed at kids than before... I think the idea was to get these kids to be SW geeks for life, more money if you get em young.
Re:waita minute (Score:5, Insightful)
When I was ten, I read fairy stories in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.
-C. S. Lewis
Re:heh (Score:5, Funny)
My response is that I don't know how you can resent something that makes you a gajilionaire, but whatever.
Obviously, you've never gotten a huge settlement check for having your man-parts torn off in a freak industrial accident.
Re:heh (Score:5, Funny)
Obviously, you've never gotten a huge settlement check for having your man-parts torn off in a freak industrial accident.
The prequels weren't *that* bad, were they?
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Indiana Jones was great (the first 3 anyway). If he'd made anything else decent then it would be recognised as such. Plenty of other writers/directors have made more than just one successful movie/series.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Willow?
American Graffiti?
THX-1138?
And oddly enough people really hated Temple of Doom until Last Crusade came out. Then people hated it for not living up to the first two films. Now people hate Indy IV.
I love Indy, but all 4 are cheesy, unrealistic, and most lack a traditional Hollywood ending where Indy saves the day. Indy gets captured by bad guys who basically get what they want in 1, 3 and 4.
That being said, Lucas is good with concepts, pretty good with directing, and terrible at acting writing scripts.
Re:heh (Score:4, Informative)
Willow?
American Graffiti?
THX-1138?
Willow was directed by Ron Howard, not Lucas. Granted, he was a producer, but it still wasn't totally "his baby".
American Graffiti and THX-1138, though both amazingly awesome, were released prior to Star Wars.
Lucas at his best (Score:3, Insightful)
Willow was directed by Ron Howard, not Lucas. Granted, he was a producer, but it still wasn't totally "his baby".
Lucas is at his best when he's NOT behind the camera calling all the shots. Raiders of the Lost Ark is probably testament Numero Uno to this. And while Empire and Return were great movies, I think we have to recognize that part of the reason that Star Wars was such a phenomenon is that it came along at exactly the right time and gave the country exactly what it needed... an old fashioned fairy tale of good guys vs. bad guys in the gray, dreary post-Vietnam world.
Had Star Wars been released in any other time
Re:heh (Score:4, Insightful)
Wait, I'm confused. Is that supposed to be criticism or praise?
Re:heh (Score:4, Interesting)
Most of the time anyone's pitching something "light saber" like in their marketing materials, serious fucking laser burns aren't a problem. Blunt force trauma, maybe, but not laser burns.
I can see why Lucas is trying to get the association away from his name.
Re:heh (Score:5, Insightful)
Most of the time anyone's pitching something "light saber" like in their marketing materials [...] I can see why Lucas is trying to get the association away from his name.
Maybe if Wicked had actually done that, you might have a point. But seeing as they don't make any mention of Star Wars, Lucas, Lightsabers, or anything even remotely connected to them in any way, this is just Lucas being a dick.
Re:heh (Score:4, Informative)
The company doesn't pitch it as a "light saber". Reviews of the product compare it to a light saber, but it is not marketed by the company as one. Lucas is complaining because the laser has a hilt like a sword or a light light saber. His argument is fairly weak IMO.
Re: (Score:2)
Is that why he made all the later SW movies so terrible?
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
He is a terrible writer and made the prequels on his own, and not inside of a studio. Not a soul could question him to revise or improve upon what he was doing.
And while 1 was awful, 2 really wasn't terrible, and I'd contend that 3 is actually on par with A New Hope and Return of the Jedi.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
He lost me at "what are midichlorians"
Re:heh (Score:5, Interesting)
As an internet meme, it gets beat into the ground, but it is 2 seconds in a much larger movie.
Return of the Jedi has Ewoks. People seem to forget how much Ewoks were hated when the movie first came out.
Nothing new ever holds up to idealized versions of prior movies.
What about direct contradictions to the prior films? Are those simply 'not idealized', or is a reasonable person allowed to object to those as well?
Episode 3 displayed, at a minimum:
1) Leia never knew her mother, period, so what she says to Luke in IV is entirely BS.
2) Vader wasn't in a suit because he was 'battle scarred', he fell into a damn volcano. Once. Most powerful force user to have ever existed can't figure out levitation, or pushing lava out of his way, or any such things. He falls into a hole, slapstick style, just like everyone else.
3) Anakin didn't turn to the dark side because he was seduced by it, only because he wanted to learn how to raise Padme from the dead. Which he never actually attempted to do, as far as we know, so it was all for naught. Even so, he stays on the dark side for twenty-some years because... why?
There's more, but I think you get the point.
As a stand alone film, it probably was close to the original set. As the capstone in the prequel trilogy, not so much. Unless you like your retcons better than I do.
Re:heh (Score:4, Informative)
1. Leia was raised by the Organa family. She was also hailed as a Princess because people believed she truly was the child of Bail Organa. The person she believed was her mother wasn't actually her mother.
2. Lucas said for I think 20 years in various interviews that he always envisioned the Vader/Obi-Wan duel would take place on a volcano planet. I think Starlog magazines were writing about this in the early 80's. I'm not sure why anyone is surprised by something that has been somewhat canon for decades.
Anakin has a lengthy, exhausting duel in the heat and then has his legs chopped off. In the pain and anger of that moment, he didn't think to move himself with telekinesis. Perhaps the pain of dual amputation distracted him. Using telekinesis seems to require full concentration. Yoda couldn't deal with Dooku and use telekinesis at the same time.
3. Never is it suggested that the Sith power in question raises people from the dead, but rather stops one from dying in the first place. And even though he wanted that power to protect Padme, it wasn't enough to push him to the dark side. He stays loyal to the Jedi beliefs basically right up to the point he inadvertently leads to Mace Windu's death. I'd have to assume he'd be expelled from the Jedi order over those events.
It would seem he felt he could never go back, and had no choice but to change allegiances at that point. Immediately killing kids after that seems like a bit of a stretch, but it certainly doesn't directly contradict the original trilogy as you suggest.
Lucas never had a grand vision. He changed his mind all the time. He was just largely stealing from Flash Gordon, Dune, and Hidden Fortress and accidentally created this masterpiece with the original trilogy.
After Episode 1 he promised Ric Olie was going to be a major character in the trilogy, along with Aura Sing. He promised Episode 2 would explain Force Ghosts, and the Episode 3 would.
Early drafts for Star Wars had aliens who used spice to fold space. General Skywalker/Starkiller was the old war veteran, not the farmboy.
He also said when making the original trilogy that the overall storyline was about Luke and restoring the Jedi order. After the prequels, he says the larger story is all about Anakin/Vader.
Lucas is full of shit. But, your three points aren't contradictions.
If you're *really* curious, you should read this:
http://secrethistoryofstarwars.com/ [secrethist...arwars.com]
Re:heh (Score:4, Insightful)
1. That was episode VI (6), not episode (IV) and her memory of her mother was described as "Images really. Feelings." Which (with little imagination and some empathy) could be attributed to a little girl's idealization of a mother she never knew blurred over time.
2. When in the series did anyone ever explain that Vader wore a suit because he was 'battle-scarred'? When did you see any jedi save possibly yoda actually levitate or indeed ever use the force to move against inertia? I don't think I need to mention how stupid the lava comment was.
3. The one thing we're told again and again about the force is that you can't just jump sides whenever you please. Once you turn to the dark side, you can't just go back (especially when, to get there, you murdered a bunch of children). He gave hints that he was dissatisfied with how the Senate was running things and intimated that he could do better. The second and third movies were all about his dissatisfaction with the Jedi order and his yearning to use his considerable power to force people to conform to his world view, held back only by his jedi training, but fostered by the soon to be emperor. Aside from all that, it was Obi Wan (who wasn't actually there when he turned) who told Luke he was seduced by the Dark Side which just makes that line hearsay.
I'm sure you have more and I'm sure they're just as well thought out and shallow as these. There is criticism that can be leveraged against the Star Wars saga as written by Lucas but frankly, you can do that to any movie or set of movies in hindsight.
Re: (Score:2)
Yeah, it's a shame that Raiders of the Lost Ark languished in so much obscurity and financial mediocrity.
Me too. (Score:4, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
"The shrink ray doesn't shoot pools, Shake! It's not a toy!"
"You say that about everything you own...maybe you should just buy toys."
Re:Me too. (Score:4, Insightful)
It doesn't really look like a toy IMHO. It just looks "sleek". A ton of money, even in tool, is spent into making items look futuristic and appealing. When I bought my truck for example I bought it primarily as a tow vehicle for my fishing boat, but I still bought an upgraded appearance package on it because despite it being bought for utility purposes, I still wanted it to look nice too.
Same with tons of things. Just because it has a snazzy appearance doesn't mean it looks like a toy. I'd wager the ONLY reason you say that is that you're making the same mistake Lucas is - if it's a small laser that is remotely attractive looking then it just has to be copying a lightsaber so the only thing it's good for is to swing it around and making buzzing noises.
This is not the lightsaber you are looking for. (Score:2)
This is the look & feel suit in meat-space this time. Those never go anywhere.
OMFG (Score:5, Insightful)
I hope Lucas also got a patent on a process for establishing "prior art" through the use of a non-functional prop, imagination, and delusions of grandeur.
Re:OMFG (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:OMFG (Score:4, Informative)
But the Star Wars props aren't original designs. The early ones were Graflex flash guns with very minor modifications. They evolved slightly over the years, but the design didn't originate with Lucas.
Basically George is mad that someone ripped off a design that he ripped off already.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Wow. That's amazing. It makes sense, but I had no idea how true this was until I Google'd it...
http://www.google.com/images?q=Graflex%20flash%20guns [google.com]
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Shouldn't every flashlight company in the world be able to sue for a share of Star Wars royalties, then? A light saber looks basically like a fancy flashlight.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Or maybe a certain photographic flash maker in particular?
http://www.fx-sabers.com/forum/index.php?topic=5996.0 [fx-sabers.com]
Not thinking this through, George... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Not thinking this through, George... (Score:5, Funny)
Yeah, but hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good lawyer at your side.
Oxymoron Alert! (Score:3, Insightful)
Good as in effective, not morally good (Score:5, Funny)
The same sense Han meant when he used the phrase "good blaster".
And in the sense of "does the dirty business for which it was created well", there are most certainly good lawyers, and you want one by your side. Probably in preference to a blaster. After all, a good blaster may be helpful in a firefight, but is typically unwise to use in a courtroom. While a good lawyer is very helpful in a courtroom, and can be used as a shield during a firefight.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Yeah, but hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good lawyer at your side, kid.
That was SO CLOSE to the perfect comment. SO CLOSE...
God Schmod, I want my monkeyman! (Score:2)
Re:God Schmod, I want my monkeyman! (Score:4, Informative)
What you need to be worried about is not just the power, but the intensity (power density, or power/spot_size). If the spot size is 1mm diameter, then the power density would be:
sunlight = 1000 W/m^2 (intensity of sunlight)
laser_toy = 0.5 W/(0.001^2) = 500000 W/m^2
500000/1000 = 500 times brighter than the sun!
Let me know if my calculations are wrong... Haven't done this in awhile.
What's next....? (Score:5, Funny)
Scientist: We developed Hyperdrive!!
George: Nope...I did...didn't you see my movie...geesh.
I think George is heading down the path of the Dark Side....
Re: (Score:2)
In fact, the entire future of humanity, including all technological advances, was already patented by scifi writers decades ago.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
I can see it now.... Scientist: We developed Hyperdrive!! George: Nope...I did...didn't you see my movie...geesh. I think George is heading down the path of the Dark Side....
Um excuse me! I represent the Roddenberry estate and it's obvious that it is "Warp" drive NOT hyper drive. See you in court!
George, George (Score:2)
IANAL, but I doubt Wicked Lasers is very worried.
Movies get copyright protection, or trademark protection.
Hardware gets patent protection.
If George Lucas has a (design) patent on the light saber, it's expired by now.
Legal Department (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
I'm sure you're right, but when a person hires people to represent him, then they represent him. I.e., if this isn't what he wants done then George Lucas sucks at employing people.
Wow... (Score:4, Insightful)
If he succeeds, then REAL scifi authors could have a field day. No more helicopters, hovercraft, or zillions of other inventions they wrote about without getting their permission first...
Re: (Score:2)
This is not good. The Philip K Dick estate is going to own half the known world.
Don't be stupid (Score:3, Informative)
this has NOTHING to do with it being a laser. He claims the shape of the body was built to resemble a light saber handle.
Functioning has nothing to do with it.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
>These lightsabers are toys. Not real inventions.
No they bloody well aren't. The article clearly states that these are fully functional portable laser devices - intended primarily for industrial and military use.
In fact the amount of people buying them for non-industrial use has led the company to modify them and ship them with significant extra safety features to prevent accidents from people buying them as novelties.
>The concept of this non-functioning object is taken from the movie....
No, it is not
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
>>If he succeeds, then REAL scifi authors could have a field day. No more helicopters, hovercraft, or zillions of other inventions they wrote about without getting their permission first...
>Wicked Lasers designed their laser to look like a lightsaber.
They say they didn't - so I guess until a judge says whose right it's just your word against theirs.
>Lucas owns the trademark on the lightsaber name and look.
So ? Trademark law only applies within similar field. This is not a movie prop, it's not a
Probably unimportant (Score:5, Interesting)
"They're a big company that needs to protect their trademarks. Maybe they're having to look like they're protecting their trademark in case they need to [protect it again] later."
It's just a laser for now, but next month when Lucasfilm sues a company making unlicensed life-size R2D2 statues, their lawyers can claim they've been actively protecting their copyrights and trademarks, which easily cuts off the biggest defenses. It's all part of the game.
TFA contains a horrible pic (Score:3, Informative)
While I think this is heavy handed of Lucasfilm Ltd, I looked up the actual product on their website. The pic in TFA is rather close up and doesn't truly show how close this laser resembles a lightsaber. Check out the other pics here: http://www.wickedlasers.com/lasers/Spyder_III_Pro_Arctic_Series-96-37.html
As much as I hate to admit it, it does look way too similar to a lightsaber.
Lucas F*&^ OFF ! (Score:3, Interesting)
Pretty telling... (Score:3)
Isn't it nice to see Lucas as lawsuit-happy as ever some 33 years after the launch of his massively successful franchise? The amounts of legal disputes, some so petty as to beggar belief, that George Lucas has launched over the decades illustrate more about the man himself than about any significant precedent or legal milestone. Yes he's won lawsuits; but there's a difference between legally sound and ethically sound.
Great White Snark [greatwhitesnark.com] has a short list of five of Lucas's most silly qualms which in the final analysis basically attack inspiration itself. Despite the fact there's a still-debated laundry list of inspiration for Star Wars, much of which he's acknowledged in straight-faced affable fashion in interviews over the years.
I'd have thought by now he'd started to mellow with age, or perhaps devoted more time to helping the world in general like certain other elder-geeks on the globe. Apparently not.
Did he patent it? (Score:2)
I guess he didn't patent it, probably becuase he didn't have the slightest idea how it could work.
(I am refering to the feature that lets you swordfight with them, and also block incoming laser blasts.
Anyway the most he can claim ownership to is the name.
Say did he ever sue Ronald Reagan over the Star Wars strategic defense initiative?
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
It is not about patents or copyrights. It is about the trademark on the term "lightsaber", and that is what the C&D says: Call it something else or stop making it.
Ehem...
The cease-and-desist letter doesn't accuse Wicked of using the term "lightsaber" in its marketing -- which Liu said is primarily aimed at industrial, military and research customers.
While your position makes logical sense, I regret to inform you that it doesn't match reality...
Interesting Conundrum (Score:2)
Short memory? (Score:3, Insightful)
Here's the Slashdot article "Set Free Your Inner Jedi (Or Pyro)" [slashdot.org]. It was posted June 14 - less than a month ago today. I'm surprised the intrepid Slashdot editors didn't remember running it while writing up this summary.
Thank you to Gene Roddenberry (Score:2)
It used to be... (Score:3, Insightful)
In other news today... (Score:5, Funny)
Scientists ceased work on developing a time machine that fits inside a car.
"When we first started development, we had our eyes set on a Camaro," said project manager and lead scientist Phuc Mi. "There aren't too many modern cars that still have enough space both under the hood to fit the fusion reactor necessary to generate the 2.19 GW of power needed to feed the fluidic transistor needed to initiate time travel. But, Michael Bay got wind of our project and, well, let's just say we gutted the Camaro and borrowed someone's Mustang instead. But with this second cease-and-desist letter from Steven Spielberg, we can't keep fighting lawyers! We have much better odds predicting where lightning will strike next than beating them in court!"
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
I was thinking to write "1.21 GW" and "flux capacitor", but I also didn't want to get sued.
Once again the obligatory warning: (Score:3, Funny)
Do Not Look Into Laser with Remaining Eye!
(My favorite lab warning sign of all time...)
Can we please have a -2 didn't RTFA mod? (Score:3, Interesting)
Please?
I wont to see the idiot who clearly didn't read the article moderated to hell.
They run around projecting the narcissistic doom and gloom via wild speculation based on a poor interpretation of a headline.
I am not new here by any stretch of the imagination. I have been here long enough to get sick of it, come to terms with it, and then get really sick of it again.ad nausium
FYI: IT's abouit the look of the handle,. not about it being a laser.
"high-powered product he says looks too much like the famous lightsaber from his classic sci-fi series"
AND
"These references make it clear that the public is being led to believe that the Pro Arctic Laser is an official lightsaber device and/or copied from our design," the Lucasfilm letter said.
It's a CNN article people. It's not going to be hard to read.
Sci-fi copyright applied to science. (Score:4, Insightful)
It seem pretty obvious to me that we cannot allow art copyright apply to scientific discoveries.
No one is going to buy one simply because the handle looks similar (and it is a laser). And it is a handle, it is no wonder that it is similar looking to other handles.
Quite a lot of possible future technology has been dreamed up by fiction writers.
For example Star Trek could sue cell phone makers (the first ones even admit to being inspired by Star Trek).
Graflex shoudl sue Lucas! (Score:3, Informative)
If Lucas is claiming the "lightsaber handle" is *his* intellectual property, he's on very shakey ground as the prop in the ORIGINAL STAR WARS was a Graflex handle, a fairly off-the-shelf item in the moviemaking biz.
Similarly the prop control panel for the Death Star's main weapon was a Grass-Valley video switcher. These are not Lucas's intellectual property. They are common items that were used in the movie because the guy was strapped on the budget.
Is Lucas going to sue anyone making a 3-wheeled two-seater with no top, even though *they* used the chassis from a Reliant Robin for the landspeeder? And what about blasters? The guns used in the movie were slightly re-dressed real weapons, he really doesn't have much copyright on existing designs that were around long before the film.
no real light sabers allowed either? (Score:5, Interesting)
What if someone build a real light saber? Would the IP of a non existing object restrict someone from selling a real one?
Related news (Score:3, Informative)
That's a big stretch for copyright. (Score:4, Insightful)
That's a big stretch for copyright.
Copyright doesn't cover functional parts of objects. A D-battery sized cylinder with a light source at one end predates anything Lucas has done. The exterior detail doesn't match any Lucas product. Lucas doesn't have a design patent, and if he did, it would have expired years ago. Lucas would lose this in court.
The Wicked Lasers device is probably just a prototype, though. They admit they're getting those Nichia NDB7352 1 watt laser diodes by disassembling video projectors. If the product was in production, they'd be buying them in bulk from Nichia.
Re: (Score:2)
Surely those things are like 50 years old now. Feels like it. Don't tell me - the problem is that Lucas is still alive.
They'll never be able to make hand held lasers. they've encased him in carbonite.
Re:age (Score:5, Insightful)
the problem is that Lucas is still alive.
He was much better when he just wanted to share some amazing stories floating in his head, like the original SW trilogy and IJ. Ever since it's been downhill, with a slightly worse prequel trilogy, then selling it all out to have an animated TV series, a handful of recent video game flops, and everything else that seems to be detrimental to the Star Wars fantasy universe.
And don't forget the holiday special. shivers
Yeah, George has long since seemed to be more in it for the money, like he is trying to build this vast empire to rival Microsoft. You might even say his entertainment companies, Lucasfilm, Industrial light and magic, skywalker sound, and then hsi co-founding with THX makes it seem like he's monopolized that field. (What's the last action flick you saw that didn't have the little THX promo before the show).
Seriously Lucas, you've built your empire, and it's doing absolutely great without you trying to "defend" it. Just quietly retire and let the other men try and run the company. I've noticed Lucasarts is revamping the Monkey Island series, and I have a feeling this was not your idea. It's not as huge a success as you probably wish, but its not doing too bad. Remember, the reason these people were even inspired to make lightsabers because of your films, no one is going to forget that.
Re:age (Score:4, Funny)
Yeah, George has long since seemed to be more in it for the money, like he is trying to build this vast empire to rival Microsoft.
That's what happens when you surrender to the Dark Side of The Farce...
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
He was much better when he just wanted to share some amazing stories floating in his head...
Just based on things I've seen and read here and there, he was "much better" back then because he was confined by limited resources, and by people around him that would actually say, "No, George, just....no."
Re:age (Score:5, Interesting)
Sometimes a little humility goes a long way. Sometimes the other person is actually right.
But no, when I watched Phantom Menace it seemed like the actors had just read their lines for the second or third time, and George says "OK that's enough, let's go make more dresses for Amidala", and the actors and everyone else just went "Yes Sir!", rather than: "Uh George, we have to do that again, that sucked".
Seeing it was just like seeing someone do the first or second round of his presentation ( some nice graphics, but blah). It usually takes a fair number of goes till the presenter says "forget the slide, let me tell you a story"...
credit where credit is due... (Score:5, Interesting)
they were NOT "floating around in his head", the first three SW movies were ripped nearly line for line out of Norse myth (minus the space travel). Luke, Leia, Aniken, the emperor, Tatooine.... he didn't even bother to change their names. "Skywalker" is a direct translation of their Old Norse surname.
Credit where credit is due... 4, 5 and 6 were Norse. 1, 2 and 3 were what you get when you see what is his original work.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Don't forget Akira Kurosawa's Hidden Fortress, and many other non-specific thematic elements from his films.
I have no problem with borrowing from other people's work (or histories, or mythologies), I just have a problem when you become a hypocrite and decide that people can't borrow from you, no matter how heavily you borrowed from others (Disney, I'm looking at you!).
Lucas' borrowing was still better than Quentin Tarantino's, though. At least it wasn't immediately transparent, where with Tarantino's films
Speaking of credit where credit is due ... (Score:3, Informative)
"... directed by Irvin Kershner. The screenplay, based on a story by George Lucas, was written by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_Episode_V:_The_Empire_Strikes_Back [wikipedia.org]
Re:credit where credit is due... (Score:5, Insightful)
Lucas' borrowing was still better than Quentin Tarantino's, though. At least it wasn't immediately transparent, where with Tarantino's films I generally just play "where did he copy this from" during the whole movie, then go rent the actual original films instead of paying a bit of attention to his.
Lemme guess, and then you got to Kill Bill and wondered where he copied Uma's yellow motorcycle suit from, and went to watch Game of Death allegedly starring Bruce Lee and realized you'd taken an unexpected and dramatic dive down the quality scale. "Did George Lucas direct this?!" you wondered. "How could anyone disgrace Bruce's memory like this!"
Or maybe that was just me. :)
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Surely you're not referring to this. If so, your BS detector needs calibrating.
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For those wondering about this post. Here's another one. [slashdot.org]
In googling around I haven't found any relevant cites but this article [secrethist...arwars.com] would seem to dispute the claim of Norse origins for Tatooine. I hope butterflysrage replies here and posts some nice links. It's an interesting theory and should be widely spread if true.
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the problem is that Lucas is still alive.
He was much better when he just wanted to share some amazing stories floating in his head, like the original SW trilogy and IJ. Ever since it's been downhill...
I read, in the Secret History of Star Wars, that Lucas genuinely wanted to impress his dad. He wanted to do something great that wasn't just running a stationary store or what-have-you. Since his father passed away in 1991, and also since he divorced one of his strongest contributers in 1983, I'd say he is just lost. He seems to lack any particular direction and is just doing what he can, rather than to impress any particular person.
That's my take on it, anyway.
Poor guy.
Dunno, actually... (Score:5, Insightful)
Dunno if I'd even give him credit for basically inventing the lightsaber, though. It's been one of those ideas that has floated around for at least one millennium, in one form or another.
E.g., King Arthur's sword Excalibur is said in various legends to be so bright that you can't (or can only with difficulty) look at it, and in at least one it consists or is covered in two jets of bright flame coming from the two chimaera heads on the hilt. It also can slice right through steel.
Other flaming swords or swords made of flame date as far back as Genesis (God placed one at the entrance to Eden after kicking those two buggers out), or one that shines like the sun is supposed to be wielded by Surtr (leader of the Muspelheim fire giants) in the battle of Ragnarok in Norse mythology. In fact Surtr's sword is arguably even more interesting as it isn't described as flaming or made of fire, but as a sword which shines brighter as the sun.
And while not exactly contemporary with the old Norse, there are paintings from _long_ before Lucas which represent Surtr wielding basically a lightsaber. E.g., "The Giant with the Flaming Sword" by John Charles Dollman from 1909.
Or there's the sword Tyrfing, again norse, forged by the dwarves to shine like the sun and cleave through steel or stone like through cloth. (The only catch was that it _had_ to kill someone each time it was drawn, if all else fails, even its wielder.)
And while not necessarily flaming, great heroes carrying awesome swords with supernatural abilities in battle is basically as old as we have a history. The Celts have the likes of Caladbolg which cleaves hills and leaves a rainbow arc when swung (weapon swing arc effects in computer games, anyown?;)), Caesar had the Crocea Mors, etc.
Really, I liked the original trilogy and all, and I'm not trying to minimize Lucas's role on the whole. But crediting lightsabers as his invention, is a bit like crediting Disney with inventing mermaids ;)
He was never "much better" (Score:3, Insightful)
After Lucas' infamous hissy fit with the DVD standards committee, he refused to release any of his movies on DVD for a very long time. I got pretty angry at him for that, but I found that there were plenty of other movies out there deserving of my attention. So I went years without watching the Star Wars movies. It turns out that watching those movies regularly altered my perception of those movies. By not watching them for years, the spell lifted and when I finally came back, I was able to (finally) give a
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That's not true at all of copyrights. It's trademarks you have to protect or lose.
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And it's only an appreciable concern in trademark law if the competing product is sold in the same market; Lucas sells movie-merch toys, Wicked Lasers appear to sell a functioning laser. I'm not sure how they could be considered to be 'in the same market,' really.
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""How many times can you look directly into a laser beam before going blind? Twice, once for each eye.""
Ha, I'm so good with a laser I did it in one try!
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it's more like lawyers realize they can sound busy and make extra money by thinking that you have to sue anything remotely similar.